We have just reached a horrifying benchmark, explained on 350.org. and below.
This year, the RGGI board of directors voted to lower the emissions cap on fossil fuels. House Bill 306 incorporated the changes approved by the RGGI board, and the House passed the bill on a 190-156 vote in March.
Last week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted, 3-2, to approve the lower cap.
Americans for Prosperity, which opposed the RGGI program since its inception and funded repeal efforts in the past two years, sent an email alert to its members asking: "Are you ready to see your electric rates go up?" The email, from New Hampshire State Director Greg Moore, urges recipients to contact their state senator to voice their opposition.
"Think about how many times you turn on a light each day or how often you turn on your computer to check emails like this one. Can you imagine paying higher rates each month just so a failed program can continue?" he wrote.
Democrats targeted Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, who as a member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted against lowering the caps.
Bradley, one of the architects of the state's electric deregulation law, has fought to either eliminate or significantly reduce the RGGI program for the past two years. Bradley has often said his chief concern has been lowering electric rates for New Hampshire consumers both during deregulation and while advocating changes in RGGI.
During the committee's hearing on HB 306, Bradley asked the Department of Environmental Services' Mike Fitzgerald what would happen if the bill did not pass. Fitzgerald responded that New Hampshire would have a difficult time remaining in RGGI long term.
Democratic Party spokesman Harrell Kirstein noted Bradley voted against the bill despite knowing it could end the program.
"Even Bradley's Republican colleague didn't vote with him, because they know pulling out of the program would cost the state money for energy efficiency projects that benefit the economy - without having an effect on energy prices," Kirstein said.
The Senate is expected to act on the bill by the end of the month. The outcome may not be as close as the committee vote, however. The RGGI program has enjoyed the support of Senate President Peter Bragdon, R-Milford, as well as Sens. Bob Odell, R-Lempster, and Nancy Stiles, R-Hampton, and is bound to have the support of nearly all the 11 Democrats.
Last week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted, 3-2, to approve the lower cap.
Americans for Prosperity, which opposed the RGGI program since its inception and funded repeal efforts in the past two years, sent an email alert to its members asking: "Are you ready to see your electric rates go up?" The email, from New Hampshire State Director Greg Moore, urges recipients to contact their state senator to voice their opposition.
"Think about how many times you turn on a light each day or how often you turn on your computer to check emails like this one. Can you imagine paying higher rates each month just so a failed program can continue?" he wrote.
Democrats targeted Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, who as a member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted against lowering the caps.
Bradley, one of the architects of the state's electric deregulation law, has fought to either eliminate or significantly reduce the RGGI program for the past two years. Bradley has often said his chief concern has been lowering electric rates for New Hampshire consumers both during deregulation and while advocating changes in RGGI.
During the committee's hearing on HB 306, Bradley asked the Department of Environmental Services' Mike Fitzgerald what would happen if the bill did not pass. Fitzgerald responded that New Hampshire would have a difficult time remaining in RGGI long term.
Democratic Party spokesman Harrell Kirstein noted Bradley voted against the bill despite knowing it could end the program.
"Even Bradley's Republican colleague didn't vote with him, because they know pulling out of the program would cost the state money for energy efficiency projects that benefit the economy - without having an effect on energy prices," Kirstein said.
The Senate is expected to act on the bill by the end of the month. The outcome may not be as close as the committee vote, however. The RGGI program has enjoyed the support of Senate President Peter Bragdon, R-Milford, as well as Sens. Bob Odell, R-Lempster, and Nancy Stiles, R-Hampton, and is bound to have the support of nearly all the 11 Democrats.
Former Vice President Al Gore. (photo: Mario Anzuoni)
400 Parts Per Million
11 May 13
esterday, for the first time in human history, concentrations of carbon dioxide, the primary global warming pollutant, hit 400 parts per million in our planet's atmosphere. This number is a reminder that for the last 150 years -- and especially over the last several decades -- we have been recklessly polluting the protective sheath of atmosphere that surrounds the Earth and protects the conditions that have fostered the flourishing of our civilization. We are altering the composition of our atmosphere at an unprecedented rate. Indeed, every single day we pour an additional 90 million tons of global warming pollution into the sky as if it were an open sewer. As the distinguished climate scientist Jim Hansen has calculated, the accumulated manmade global warming pollution in the atmosphere now traps enough extra heat energy each day to equal the energy that would be released by 400,000 Hiroshima-scale atomic bombs exploding every single day. It's a big planet -- but that is a LOT of energy. And it is having a destructive effect.
Now, more than ever before, we are reaping the consequences of our recklessness. From Superstorm Sandy, which crippled New York City and large areas of New Jersey, to a drought that parched more than half of our nation; from a flood that inundated large swaths of Australia to rising seas affecting millions around the world, the reality of the climate crisis is upon us.
Our food systems, our cities, our people and our very way of life developed within a stable range of climatic conditions on Earth. Without immediate and decisive action, these favorable conditions on Earth could become a memory if we continue to make the climate crisis worse day after day after day.
With any great challenge comes great opportunity. We have the rare privilege to rise to an occasion of global magnitude. To do so, our communities, our businesses, our universities, and our governments need to work in harmony to stop the climate crisis. We must summon the very best of the human spirit and draw on our courage, our ingenuity, our intellect, and our determination to confront this crisis. Make no mistake, this crisis will demand no less than our very best. I am optimistic because we have risen to meet the greatest challenges of our past.
So please, take this day and the milestone it represents to reflect on the fragility of our civilization and and the planetary ecosystem on which it depends. Rededicate yourself to the task of saving our future. Talk to your neighbors, call your legislator, let your voice be heard. We must take immediate action to solve this crisis. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next year. Now.
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